The two retired Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) officers suspected of selling classified information to Chinese intelligence agents were released yesterday after being granted bail by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Major Wang Tsung-wu (王宗武) was released on bail of NT$500,000 and colonel Lin Han (林翰) was freed on NT$150,000 bail. However, both men have been barred from leaving the country.
Their release came amid more potentially damaging revelations for the nation’s security, as it was alleged that Wang had operated as a double agent for many years. Prosecutors said Wang was sent by the bureau as an intelligence agent to China on covert missions at least four times from 1992 to 1994, but his cover was blown and he was recruited by Chinese intelligence.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
How his identity was discovered by the Chinese is not known.
Prosecutors said on Wednesday that they believe that after Wang retired from the bureau in 2005, he recruited Lin, who had been at the Republic of China Military Academy with him.
Lin was a telecommunications specialist at the bureau, and worked in a bureau unit responsible for intelligence-gathering on China, and therefore said to be quite familiar with the deployment of Taiwan’s espionage operations against their Chinese counterparts. He retired in 2013.
The two officers are suspected of developing a spy network to gather intelligence for their Chinese handlers, and are alleged to have supplied information on identities of Taiwanese agents and their activities in China.
Investigators said Wang and Lin traveled to Macau and Southeast Asia, where they met with Chinese intelligence officers.
The pair have been indicted for violating the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法).
Prosecutors said that during questioning yesterday, Lin admitted to accepting money from Chinese sources and receiving all-expense paid trips to Southeast Asian countries.
Although Lin was distressed when questioned about his role, he denied supplying classified information to China and said he did not think it would develop into such a serious case, according to an unnamed official from the prosecutors’ office.
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